La Crosse County pushing for DNR hearing on hog farm permit

A large hog lot in northern La Crosse County is in line for a permit renewal from the Wisconsin DNR this year, but the county health department wants a public hearing before it is granted.

Health director Jen Rombalski hopes to give neighbors of the Babcock hog farm a chance to talk about their contaminated well water.

Rombalski says the odds are high that increased nitrate levels discovered in the water might have been caused by manure from the farm.

Rombalski is hoping to hear, this week, whether the DNR will agree to take comments at a hearing on the hog lot permit.

A similar proposal to build a corporate hog farm in southeast Minnesota has made headlines recently, because of fears that manure runoff from the farm could lead to groundwater pollution.